Rural Business Consultancy Report

Rural Business Consultancy

11 JAN 2019

Re: Shenvalley Farm, St Marks

1900252

18th January 2019

Having visited Shenvalley Farm, St Marks on the 15th August 2018 to view the site and discuss the proposed erection of an agricultural workers dwelling and two agricultural buildings with Mr David Crowe of Homefield Ltd I have the following comments:

• Shenvalley farm is approximately 144 acres of grassland with a further 56 acres owned and rented at other sites in the near vicinity. (200 acres in total).
• The farm was purchased in May 2016 and there has been an ongoing investment programme, initially improving the land and drainage to allow for an increase in stock numbers.
• A new replacement dwelling is currently under construction to allow the family to reside on site and manage the farm.
• The farm is currently stocked with 130 breeding ewes with the majority of the lambs being taken through to finished. 20 ewe lambs will be retained for replacements along with the 3 breeding rams.
• The current labour requirement for the agricultural enterprise is 0.69 standard labour units.
• Mr Crowe is intending to continue fencing, draining and improving the land to be fully stocked with 60 breeding suckler cows and 400 breeding ewes with all progeny being reared on farm to finished.
• This will increase the labour demand to approximately 2.51 standard labour units.
• The next step of the farm improvement programme to facilitate the proposed expansion in stock numbers is to improve the livestock buildings.
• Two modern, steel framed buildings are proposed, each 30m x 15m. These two buildings are to be constructed within the one 30m x 30m foot print reducing the construction materials required and costs.
• The proposed buildings are to be utilised for the housing of cattle, lambing of ewes and storage of feeds and bedding.
• The current buildings extend to 1260m² available for livestock housing and feed storage. There are a further 307m² of buildings which are currently utilised for undercover sheep handling pens and a designated lambing shed with pens constructed in-situ.
• Currently the housing requirements of the livestock is 422m² however the proposed stocking levels will require a total area of 2470m².

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• The proposed buildings will provide a 900m² of buildings which added to the existing 1260m² will provide a total of 2160m² which is a shortfall of 310m² over the required.

• The buildings are required to provide shelter to all the stock to ensure they are removed from the land through the wet winter period. This will help reduce any damage to the land and ensure that livestock health and welfare are not adversely affected.

• To facilitate the building of the proposed buildings and create a unobstructed working yard there are a range of existing stone buildings and an earth bank that are proposed to be removed. The earth bank is to be moved to accommodate the proposed building and provide screening and shelter. The stone buildings are currently in a very dilapidated condition and are of no practical use to modern day agriculture with zero access for large agricultural machinery and limited ventilation.

• There is currently a hay barn near to the grain silos that has been repaired, but ultimately is near the end of its working life. This barn is likely to be unrepairable in another 5-10 years and will have to be removed.

• The proposed stocking numbers will result in a labour demand of 2.51 standard labour units. As a result, Mr Crowe is seeking to incorporate the erection of an agricultural farm workers dwelling with the erecting of two agricultural buildings in the one planning application. This is a pragmatic approach, gives an indication that Mr Crowe is thinking long term with this investment and is also seeking to ensure he can attract staff to assist with the management of the farm.

• Extra observation and assistance will be required at calving and lambing periods where extra labour is required to ensure that animal health and welfare is paramount.

• I have not considered other housing alternatives in the vicinity but from experience with other Island farm businesses, attracting and retaining good quality staff is becoming more and more of an issue. The availability of a dwelling on site would increase the potential of attracting and retaining quality staff.

There is obviously significant ongoing and planned investment and improvement to the farm holding. There appears to be two phases to this development. The first phase of increasing the scale of the farming operation with the building of the two sheds appears logical and agriculturally justified. The second phase of erecting of a farm-workers dwelling also appears logical and justified subject to the farm business having sufficient labour requirements.

Should you require any further assistance with this application, please do not hesitate to get in touch

Best Regards

Chris Kneale

Rural Business Consultancy Ltd.